it is a bad recipe for the economy and for the average californian. can. >> the average person and almost every one of us will notice it very severely because it will affect how much is taken out of our weekly paychecks. and it will become very apparent very quickly. and it will be painful. >> reporter: the average household could pay an extra $2,000 to $3,000 in taxes. 1200 government programs will be cut. and it could increase the unemployment rate from 7.9 to 9%. for others, it could actually be worse. take a single mother with two children making $50,000 a year. if we go over the "fiscal cliff," she will pay an extra $1,000 for an increase in social security taxes, another thousand dollars because her child deductions will be halved, and more than $1,000 because the bush-era income tax cuts are set to expire. that's $3,000 out of her paychecks next year. >> the reason this is going to be a problem for the economy is it's large and will hit suddenly unless we're smart enough to fix this. >> reporter: let's hope we are. it's not just your money and